Clare Wright: "Women were central to the [Eureka Stockade] movement and were agents of change, not just helpmates watching from the boundaries."

AAP: Dan Himbrechts

A book that tells the story of the Eureka Stockade from the female point of view has won this year's $50,000 Stella Prize for women's writing.

Melbourne historian Clare Wright's book, The Forgotten Rebels Of Eureka, has uncovered a different side to the 1850s rebellion on the Ballarat goldfields, which is often seen as the dawning of Australian democracy and the labor movement.

"The goldrush era was an extraordinary time and I had the great fortune of being able to live for 10 years in the archive, so I felt that I had time-travelled back," the author told the ABC.

She chronicled the lives of women working side by side with the men in the goldfields and profiled characters like Sarah Hanmer, who ran the Adelphi Theatre in Ballarat.

"Sarah was a key part of the movement as the chief financier of the diggers defence fund," she said.

"Her tent became the headquarters of the diggers' movement. She was a larger-than-life character who everybody on the diggings loved and admired."

The Eureka Rebellion marked the beginning of organised resistance by workers in the then-colony, when the Ballarat gold miners revolted against British colonial soldiers.

The Battle of the Eureka Stockade on December 3, 1854, led to the deaths of more than 25 people, most of whom were rebels.

The rebellion has featured widely in books, movies and television dramas, but until now women were portrayed only as bit players.

"These women were central to the movement and were agents of change, not just helpmates watching from the boundaries," Ms Wright said.

"They were creating the changes that we appreciate now and we consider to be part of our Australian political heritage and our national identity."

The book beat more than 100 others to win the Stella Prize, which was first awarded one year ago and established in response to a perceived gender imbalance in the Australian literary community.